Kassarock

The Arrangement [Suki & Kassarock]

The blast of the hunting horn rang out across the camp as the herald pressed it to his lips. Its sound called the inhabitants of the hunting encampment to attention. The noise and bustle of busy servants and bantering nobility died down as the assembled people turned expectantly to the dais raised upon the knoll.

Ozragad surveyed the crowd below imperiously. Who were they? All these hangers on that had been considered important enough to invite along to this performance. The presence of servants and soldiers he understood, but surely he was already preaching to the converted here? These were the nobles of central mountains, the green western valleys, and of the Kazadun River. There were a few from the far north and Iron Town, fewer still from the southern marshes and Port Kazad. But the people of this Kingdom he truly needed to win over, those hardy folk of the Bleak Coast and the war-like Ashlanders, where were they? Truly, this is a fool's errand.

It was then that his eyes caught sight of her again, the Princess, a droplet of purple and gold in an ocean of black, red and grey. She was easy to pick out of any crowd here in Morganyth, the pale peach of her complexion marking her out against the dun Formori. A thought occurred to the King then, maybe this display wasn't so much to acquaint his nobility with her, as it was to acquaint her to his nobility. Convince her she was not quite as despised in this country as others, himself included perhaps, had suggested. Or its to win these peace loving loyalists round to slaughtering their cousins when the civil war you have created comes around. Or this is just another opportunity to assassinate you.

As he watched her from the dais she too turned to look at him, immediately he glanced away again. Why did he just do that? He was a King, he was a warrior, he should be able to stare down anyone if he wanted to. It's because you're ashamed. You're ashamed of how much you are thinking about her. And you don't want her to know.

It was then that Lord Iria, the chancellor, began his announcement.

"My Lords and Ladies! Gathered nobility of the great and powerful realm of Morganyth and the ancient and venerable Formori! We are called here today to witness a time honoured tradition of our people!" Iria was in full flow, arm outstretched to gesture theatrically like some great statesman or orator. Ozragad supposed he did have a way with words, especially when he had not been drinking. In another life Iria could have been an actor.

"In the days of yore, when a young suitor-" He snorted at that, even the most deluded flatterer would not have called Ozragad young these days. -wished to take a bride from her mother's hearth, he had first to prove to her family that he could provide their daughter with sustenance and protection. Hence, the bridegroom would be tasked with the hunting of a great beast and laying it at his the hearth of his betrothed."

"Today, our beloved King, Ozragad of the House of Gwydion, shall undergo this trial to prove his worth to the Princess Elise of the House of Hydaelyn. He may nominate three champions to accompany him on his quest! Your Majesty, whomst shall you name?"

It was Ozragad's turn now. The champions had already been decided well before hand. The first would be Rhiathon, the captain of Ozragad's personal guard, who would be acting as Ozragad's personal bodyguard for the duration of the hunt. The second would be Lord Urathon, the Lord Justicar, a prominent councillor and a skilled hunter in his own right. The final place would be for Manawyndan, the Lord Steward and permanent right hand of the King.

But lately, Ozragad had found himself less and less sure of the trust he had placed in Manawyndan. There had been failures in his abilities recently, the riot, the assassination attempt. Failures? They were only failures if you believe he had nothing to do with him... He cleared his throat and stepped forward to speak.

"I, King Ozragad of the House of Gwydion, name my champions. Rhiathon, of the Royal Guard. Lord Urathon, of the Royal Council. And...

There was a pregnant pause. Ozragad turned his head to examine the cluster of figures who stood with him on the dais, waiting expectantly for the last name. Manawyndan was amongst them, and for a moment Ozragad swore he saw a flash of annoyance flit across the old Formori's face. His resolve suddenly hardened as he felt the coals of his anger kindle once more. But who else could he name to the party? It would have to be someone of high standing, and someone he could trust. His eyes roved further over the dais, and landed on his cousin Lady Cheldarine, and the two Formori youths standing beside her.

"And Elethiomel, eldest son of my dearest cousin, and of mine own Royal Family."

There was a burst of cheering and applause from the gathered crowd, with something of a more subdued reaction from those standing upon the wooden stage, including some visible confusion from those who had known the intended composition of the King's hunting companions. Ozragad saw Manawyndan approaching him, eyebrows raised.

"Sire, I thought we had already agreed tha-"

"Plans change, Lord Steward. See to the running of the camp in my absence." He brushed past Manawyndan, barely giving him a second glance. "Elethiomel, get your bow and saddle your horse. You ride with me today."

Staff update

Thanks for everything Storm! Hopefully we'll have a chance to write something together again soon!

Hi guys!

MFP#5 - Sleep (Voting and Feedback)

Thanks for the votes everyone!

What Are You Listening To?

It's been awhile

As do I, at least, in internet years.

Anyway, welcome back to the Guild!

What's the most questionable/random thing you've had to look up for a RP?

'How long does it take to strangle someone to death?'

Feral

Hey so, apologies for the massive necro that's happening right now, but there's something I wanted to post here.

I recently went through my old hard drive and found a bunch of my pre-Guildfall writings from the old site, including a whole fourteen posts from the original Feral thread. I've uploaded them to the gallery, but for the sake of completeness I also wanted to post a link to them in this thread. After all, they are a part of Feral, and it makes me glad that I can fill in a small amount of the work we all lost when the site went down.

You can read my surviving posts from Feral here.

Fragments from the Old Guild

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Feral

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So this is probably the main reason I made this thread. Feral was a really long running roleplay on the old site I was involved in from 2010 to around the end of 2013. It was, and still is, the longest running roleplay I have ever had privilege to be a part of. It was so long running in fact, it actually managed to survive Guildfall and continued running on the new version of the site for around another year and half, unfortunately ending before its narrative could properly conclude. You can find the latter half of the roleplay, here.

Writing with the people in this roleplay taught me an awful lot about roleplaying and about writing in general. The character arc of my original character in Feral is still one of the most satisfying journeys I've taken a character on. Rolnak, my angry angry boy, spent much of the roleplay slowly succumbing to a degenerative brain disease that eventually made him (you guessed it) feral. I got to roleplay through all this and it finally climaxed in him turning on the party and trying to kill its leader.

I still like some of those posts reading them back years later, even after my style has significantly changed and improved (at least I hope it has).

I also had another character in Feral that I played after Rolnak's death, Eadrom, though I really never connected to the character in quite the way I would have liked. The change in character was something that I think contributed to my eventual dropping out of the roleplay, something I definitely regret now.

Feral was a roleplay that I was very proud to be a part of, and I since I found these posts, I feel it would be a disservice to it to leave it more incomplete than it needs to be.

The hiders below contain all the old Rolnak posts I could find (in all their unedited glory), you can also see his character sheet here:

Rolnak lands in Boaz

Good spirits had been unable to survive the landing in Boaz. Rolnak had visited the city before, and it was the same as ever, reeking of suspicion and fear to anyone that wasn’t a ‘good proper upstanding human’. A busy port town like Boaz should be a melting pot, on the highway to Dunmont as well as being the gateway to the human kingdom, but it wasn’t. Despite all the trade and wealth that flowed through the vast wooden warehouses and the grand stone buildings that fronted the docks, people in this town couldn’t lose their fear. Bloody Racists.

“Look at them all!” Rolnak cast his arm out in a wide arc over the dock front as people hurried away on business that was suddenly so much more important now their ship had arrived. “Pah, fucking cowards. They should try living in Jahzarra, no walls, no army, nowt. And all the time you’re surrounded by the most feral infested country off of Sassucus. That’ll teach you fear!” He spat in disgust over the railing of the ship, not on the planks, he had far too much respect for captain Garran for that. The man had proven himself one of the most worthy and capable people in Czarina. Rolnak wouldn’t spit on his ship, not if the man could drink like that. But still, those dogs out there had no concept of what fear was and there they were, running away, with their tales between their legs. There was probably a full company of human soldiers on their way, whether they’d arrest them on the spot on just ‘escort’ them was still to be seen. But you shouldn’t trust a human as far as you could throw him, shifty buggers, especially when they were dealing with Daeva or Hybrids.

He spoke to soon, as they walked down off of the gangplank they showed up, a whole load of em’, led by some foppish prick Rolnak reckoned in could slice from balls to chin, mail and all, before he had a chance to shit himself. But Neon beat him to the blocking, and Rolnak laughed in the slightly awkward silence as she reminded their captain of her rank. He almost forgot himself sometimes, the Daeva Monarchy had always been very secretive about the line of succession. Assassinations had been a big problem, keeping a right host of noble children around the palace and never officially revealing the succession made taking out heirs far more difficult. He had never looked at her as the future monarch, he had only really known her during the course of this mission, and hadn’t learned until Sassucus, and his image of her had already been firmly implemented in his mind by them.

He didn’t bother talking much on the journey through town. No one really seemed in the mood for conversation, there was too much of an oppressive tension in the streets. Everyone here wanted to go and kill them. That was fine. Rolnak wanted to kill them all as well. If anyone felt like bringing it, Rolnak would be all too happy to oblige.

They reached the edge of town before long, there was no trouble, but everything was still uneasy. He was walking behind Torva and Hagumi, he saw the Wolf Daeva was getting a hard time off of the guards who were trying to provoke him. None of them were really trying to screw with him, Torva was more of an easy target. Fine, as long as they didn’t screw with him he might just make it to Dunmont without killing anyone

Then he saw their transport.

“You gotta be kidding me? A fucking cage?” He growled, his fist tightening, his teeth grinding. Neon and Hagumi got some plush carriage, while the rest of them where slighted with this crap. Still, grin and bear it, just go and kill someone when we get to Dunmont, Rolnak thought. Just don’t kill all of these guards now… although his rage was telling him to. Deep breaths. Deep breaths.
Then they asked him to surrender his weapon.

The guard who faced him noticed a change in Rolnak’s demeanour as he was told to give his up his weapon. He had previously had his jaw clenched, his face distorted slightly by supressed rage, a burning in his eyes. As soon as he was told to give up the giant sword on his back, his entire body relaxed and his stare went blank. The guard repeated again his request to give up his weapon. Rolnak seemed to comply this time. He removed Skullsplitter from his back and offered it, hilt first to the soldier. The relived soldier reached out to take it, he closed his hands around the hilt and pulled it away. Or at least tried to.

The sword would not move, he had both hands on it and pulled hard, but it wouldn’t budge. He looked up to Rolnak, only to see he was holding the tip of the blade between his fingertips. Without changing his grip, he lifted the sword, using only his fingertips for purchase, high above his head, the startled guard still clinging on. The man was lifting several feed off the ground before he decided to let go and fall to the ground. When he got there he found Rolnak putting his sword back onto his back and bending down to look him in the face.

“You can have my sword when you can take it from my hand. My cold. Dead. Hand.”

He didn’t wait for a response, he climbed into the cage with Torva and the others, his eyes murder.

Rolnak drunk in Dunmont

Seeing straight was overrated, that was the conclusion that Rolnak came to as he staggered back and forth down a corridor in the Palace of Dunmont. Since he had been loaded out of that goddamn animal cage he had taken to drinking, hard drinking. He was sure the others would rather that he kept his wits about him when they were surrounded by people that wanted them dead, but that was all more the reason to get blitzed out of his mind. It had not been a difficult thing to do: follow your nose to the kitchen, threaten whoever the hell was there until they told you where they kept the booze, break store room lock, and before you knew it you could be drunk enough to not give a crap about… well… just about anything.

But back to seeing straight, why would you want to? Sure it made walking easier, but what about the women? Women always looked better when you were drunk, and instead of there being just one of them with you, there were two! And they were twins! It had been a good half hour, who knew they let prostitutes into the palace? Well… it might have been a prostitute, Rolnak had given her money and then they had sex in a washroom behind one of the servant courtyards. Or had it been the other way around? He couldn’t quite remember, whatever the hell he had found to fortify this wine with was hellish strong.

Slowly, he managed to find the cupboard that they had said was his room. He couldn’t quite lie flat in it, but there had been enough room where the pallet didn’t reach the end wall for him to stash what he had liberated from the cellars earlier. He threw his empty bottle out of the small, glassless window that looked out over a midden heap and retrieved another from the pile on the floor. Wretching the cork out with his teeth, Rolnak took a big long draught before staggering out of the door again. Maybe he could find some kind of cock-fighting? Or bear-baiting, he fucking loved bear-baiting. So far Dunmont had been dull, very dull. It was neat, ordered, nice. Rolnak hated nice.

Rolnak meets a fan

When Rolnak had first been accosted by the guard he had done what came naturally, raised his fist in preparation to knock the crap out of them. But he had been so surprised by what came next his normally default response faltered enough for him to take stock of the situation through the alcohol haze he was living in. He squinted and leaned down looking into the young recruit’s face, and they were genuine! It was shocking finding a friendly face in a place like this where every single other person had either sneered at him or wanted to start a fight.

“Y’know, I dunno know why other people don’t see this? Why is’t that people just don’t seem to hav’ propa respect? I like you. You, you! Know what you’re talkin’ bout!” Rolnak let out a hail of drunken laughter as he clapped one arm round his shoulder and leaned his crushing weight on him. He rocked back and forth with laughter for a few more seconds before steadying himself and pulling the helmet out of the startled young recruit’s hands, continuing ranting as he did so.

“The problem, and I mean the real fuckin’ problem, is that people aren’t scared like they used t’be. Dat’s what it is! If y’wanna command men, if y’wanna command respect! Then they hav’t fear you. Cos’ if they don’t they won’t lis’en to a damn thing you say! I’ve sed it before and I’ll say it again! Fear, y’need the fear. Otherwise, there’s no point.”

Using his other hand, Rolnak drunk deeply out of the bottle of ‘whatever the hell he could find’, the strong alcohol trickling down his near beard like stubble and dripping of his chin. He finished the bottle and tossed it behind him, his gaze focusing back on the increasingly nervous guard.

“Yeah, that’s what’s wrong with dis’ place. I ain’t got no respect ere’ cos these lot don’t know what its like to be properly scared. They think they’re safe, with all them fancy canons and guns, and walls, and nice, polite, guards. Guards that keep them safe from the ‘dirty nasty daeva’! Who won’t even speak up about people they supposedly RESPECT!”

It was then that Rolnak smashed Timothy in the face with his own helmet.

“Guards like you.” He muttered to himself, before picking up the fallen ink pen and making a vague scribble inside it that might have been Rolnak Ordoth if you blurred your eyes a bit. After that he had a piss in it, and decided he should get back to the palace, that little encounter had left him feeling remarkably sober and there was some feeling… some tension in the air that didn’t feel right. Call it a psychic premonition, or feral based instincts, but Rolnak had a feeling he shouldn’t spend the rest of this night drinking.

Rolnak discovers Raha's body

“What in the name of Xiomar…” Rolnak whispered under his breath as he stared up into the night sky. The rain was pelting down, soaking him to the bone. Flashes of lightning lit the terrible scene that was being played out before him, an aerial battle the likes of which had never been seen. Two dragons tearing away at each other, one of fire and one of shadow… and darkness seemed to be triumphing over the light. The smaller red dragon was being torn to shreds its black counterpart, but in the process it was also burning down a good portion of Dunmont as well.

“Wait.” Rolnak said audibly, still standing stock still in the middle of the street, rain pouring down his face and into his eyes. “That’s… that’s… the King.” His eyes widened in shock. “And that’s… bloody hell! That’s Drakonia! That feral mother-fucker!” He ripped his sword from his back and started to jog in the direction of the fight, needing to prove his worthiness to the King… or he was going to have to grovel in front of Raha for a long time, the King would probably execute him on a whim… he’d be in one of those moods… especially after getting all fired up by doing something really crazy like killing his son. Still, this was a shot for Rolnak to get revenge on the bastard who had cost him most of his career, the feral dog who had passed him by for promotion and boy had Rolnak suffered because of that.

He was running through Dunmont when he saw what had happened. A second black dragon they swooped down and joined the fight. But in seconds they did something, and then the red breathed fire… and then… then the King was falling. The King was falling. The King had fallen! Rolnak stopped looking up, he just ran, he needed to get to Raha now. The King… the king was wounded, he would need his help. Despite Rolnak’s nature it was pressed into him as deep as any other member of the Royal Guard, preserve the King at all cost. And it was more than that for Rolnak, Raha was the person who controlled the most fear in all the world… even those who he favoured were terrified of him. And because of that, Rolnak had no choice but to consider the man his greater by far.

There was an explosion above him, but Rolnak didn’t look up. He continued with a single minded certainty. Get to the King. Get to the King. Get to the King. He tore around a corner, leaping over rubble and burning wreckage. It seemed as if most of Dunmont had been set to flame. He kept running, jumped another rubble spill and ran into the street where Raha had fallen.

His great form seemed to fill it from side to the side, the wings were lying over the roofs of houses, looking bent and broken. Snapped like twigs against the weight of the earth. He was longer than Garran’s ship, and armoured in black diamonds from tail to horns. And it was lying there… still… lifeless. The King body stirred and a flame of hope lit up in side of Rolnak. It was extinguished moments later as he saw it was not life, but like carrion crows on a carcass, the humans were trying to drag his King away.

Rage filled Rolnak like a seething wine flowing over a lip of its cup. His hands trembled as he stared at the body of the creature he had devoted almost half his life into serving, and there they were, picking at it, as if it were nothing more than dead meat. Bastards.

He breathed the rain and the smoke, and began to walk over to the vultures.

“That! Is my King! What do you think you are doing to my King!?” Rolnak bellowed as his march turned into a charge and he flung himself upon them. Fighting with a wild abandon even more aggressive than he normally did. Skullsplitter flew in his hand like it was made of air, cleaving left right and centre. The first three that approached him spears down and tried to stop him were killed in two swings as he opened their guts and smashed their chests. None of them stood a chance. The next lot were even easier, pinned against the King’s body he opened their throats effortlessly. His strokes got faster and faster. Impossible to follow! He tore at them like the winds of fury, arms and legs severed in the blink of an eye. One of them just dropped their sword and surrendered, so Rolnak too his head off with one swing.

Never before did he feel as if the blade were an extension of his arm. It seemed to know his thoughts before he did, it seemed to feel his anger, his pain. It wanted blood as much as he did!

Rolnak ripped through over twenty guards in only a few minutes. The ones who had meat shields protecting them managed to run, well… most of them. At the end of the slaughter Rolnak found himself panting, covered in blood which was slowly being washed away by the rain, in front of the majestic head of his dead King. He knelt before it, looking for any sign that Raha might still live… But no… those yellow eyes were dead and lifeless, no spark of the cruel yet awesome malevolence that had once dwelled there.

“My King… I have failed.” He sighed, his voice cracking slightly with restrained emotion. He raised his hands to his face and took it in them, trying to not to scream in rage and self-loathing, he hadn’t even noticed the bullet wound in his left arm. He had let his King die. He should… he should have never been here! He should have been at the King’s side! Protecting him! Rather than running over the continent, chasing ghosts and whispers about a cure that probably didn’t even exist! If he hadn’t been with Neo-

Neon.

Neon.

Neon.

Something snapped in Rolnak’s brain.

The black dragon. The second black dragon. It had been Neon. She had done something, distracted the King, attacked the King! She… she was responsible. She was responsible for EVERYTHING! It was her! Her! She had been the one who had distracted him from protecting his King! She had been the one that had stopped him from kill Drak when he had a chance! She was the thing which brought Drak here! Everything. Everything! Was her fault.

Rolnak got up off of the floor and looked towards the palace. His eyes said the storm had only just begun.

Rolnak attacks Neon 1

Rolnak stared past Garran, his eyes locked on what had just landed behind him. His left eye was twitching slightly as his entire body trembled slightly from rage. White hot, incandescent, rage. His lips partly slightly in a snarl, as he raspy whispered through gritted teeth.

“Neon.”

Within an instant he had leapt past Garran, charging over the short distance, sword raised above his head, all the while letting out a wordless berserker scream. The few seconds it took him to reach the humoid-dragon were the most agonisingly painful in his life. His head felt like it was tearing its self apart, breaking through the skull and out into the smoke filled air. Unleashed was the well of loathing that had built in Rolnak almost all of his life, every negative feeling and memory fuelled the furnace of his anger.

Images were flashing in front of his eyes. Neon knocking him out on the ship over to Sassucus. The unappreciated blood in had sweated to take Malum’s castle. The group leaving him in that net at the church. Neon, putting Chii ahead of the rest of the group. And Drak, as he had been before he was a Feral, the tactical prodigy, the boy who had somehow been worthier than him. Every betrayal, every injustice, every injury, every moment of bitterness and anger in his life. All of them, all of them were there. The jumbled images seemed to slow down the moments as he drew within striking distance, until it seemed that all movement in the world had stopped. Save for the crackle of flames in felt inside. It was almost peaceful here.

Then time resumed its march, and Rolnak brought Skullsplitter down on Neon in a mighty two handed blow.

Rolnak attacks Neon 2

The battle raged on around Dunmont. Artillery, bullets, magic, arrows, all of them flying through the air at deadly velocity. The huge burst of light of went up and as it did so something exploded from the rubble pile where Neon had flung Rolnak. He had transformed as she had desired, his human features gone, replaced with the head of a raging bull instead. He bellowed without words and began to charge directly at Neon in the confusion. He… no, it, was practically foaming at the mouth with mindless rage. Looking at it from the neck up, there was no sign that this had been anything more than animal at all.

The powerful slabs of muscle in his legs drove Rolnak forward at a speed which seemed impossible for such a large man. He was on Shade in seconds, butting him out of the way with the massive amounts of force he was generating . Rolnak wasn’t a light or small man to begin with, but when he transformed his height grew and his frame got stockier, more muscle, more mass, more force. As he charged past he lowered his head to bring his horns pointing forward to gore Neon if he could.

A final burst of speed propelled him straight at her, ramming into her legs with all his strength. No sooner had contact been made, he whirled past, trying to get onto her left flank. Once there he straightened and unleashed a flurry of two-handed blows, desperately trying to pierce the powerful shadow armour that coated Neon. Still, Rolnak’s wrath knew few bounds.

Rolnak attacks Neon 3

Rolnak was simply braying wordlessly in mindless rage as Neon berated him for his loyalty to Raha. The tendrils she used on his arms were effective, he struggled to move at points and it made his blows far weaker. All around them the war was raging with greater, and fiercer intensity, but Rolnak couldn’t give a shit. His mind was gone, he had descended deeper into feralism, of course not helped by his already hideous temper. One minute he was trying to lean in close enough to bite at Neon, the next he was flying through the air and smashed once again into a wall.

This wall had been harder than the last one, the guard had softened the impact considerable. The masonry had held and Rolnak’s back was in bad shape. He might have cracked rips, but there were certainly small pieces of broken stone sticking out of his muscles from where the impact had created splinters from the wall. The wound he had received early from the guards was bleeding profusely, and somewhere in the carnage he also had gained a broken arrow shaft sticking out of his shoulder. In wasn’t yet in a dire shape, but he was very much on the road to it.

It was then that Neon charged him. He had been ready for the blow, no matter how feral he was, Rolnak was still the better swordsman than the dragon Daeva. The power of a draconian humanoid in full flight was another matter. When the blades clashed, the impact jarred his body the whole way through. His footing slipped, he widened his stance. And just, just, held the blow in check. They were locked together, sword on sword. And Rolnak was glaring into her eyes.

“I’ll. Fucking. KILL. You.” He managed to half rasp, half grunt through the strain of effort, his transformation and the feralism. With herculean strength, he managed to break the lock. And used the precious moments it bought him to leap to the side, trying once again to flank Neon. But this time, he did not waste his blows upon her armour. Instead he bounded from a pile of corpses and rubble to land fully on the back of the Daeva. At first he tried to use his sword to dig into her flesh and gain purchase, but he wouldn’t stay on long that way. Instead, using an animal instinct that was telling him how to kill, his arm reached Skullsplitter around her neck. He was going to grab his blade with his own hand. And decapitate her.

It was now that the ice hit. The freezing wind from above that made the sweat and blood that coated Rolnak freeze. He felt his arms stiffen, his fur get coated with frost. But was it enough to cool his rage? No.

Rolnak attacks Neon 4

Rolnak had been continuing struggling on top of Neon’s back. He had been close. So close to cutting her head off, his blade had managed to penetrate through the shadowy black armour and had drew blood. So close to the kill! Almost his! Almost! But he would get to further. At that moment Neon blasted her shadow, sending the two of them flying up into the air, and fortunately moving Rolnak out of the way of CAS’s bladed fan. But it had spoiled the kill! Spoiled it! As they hurtled through air, Rolnak tried once again to finish it. To kill, to hunt, to have dominance! But he was thrown off of her back before he could. His horns being grabbed by Neon’s shadow magic he was hurled head over heels into the floor (Kill. Kill. Kill stopped. Kill.).

Crashing into the dirt he rolled and came back up on his feet, frozen, filthy and snarling. Looking like a true feral now. But Neon had changed even more. While her humanoid draconian form was impressive, this form was even more so. But Rolnak didn’t see the majesty, the power and strength of the dragon Daeva (Still Kill!). He didn’t see the heir to the man he had devoted his life and service to, the man he had respected and feared above all others (Still Kill!). All he could see was the enemy. What he wanted to kill. What he wanted to hunt. He was blinder now than he had ever been. And yet his senses felt all the more alive, the cold bite to the air, the pain in his wounds up and down his back, the smell of blood in his nostrils (Still Kill!). The concept of the future was lost. All that mattered now was this fight. This battle. This kill.

The second blast of shadow was unleashed, it rushed past his side in way so much more deadly than any fire could ever manage. There was a reason the shadow dragons were the rulers of the Daeva. But Rolnak did not flinch. He was watching, watching with animal eyes this new opponent (Still Kill! Still Kill! Still Kill!). He needed to kill. He needed it more than breathe itself it seemed. Never in all his eyes did want anything more than to tear her apart with his teeth and nails as he did in that moment.

He didn’t think. He didn’t plan. He just raised his sword above his head and charged into the mouth of the dragon.

And that is unfortunately that's everything I have left for Rolnak. The final conclusion his battle with Neon was written by the GM, and ended, as you may have guessed, with his demise. Farewell, my angry bull boy, I still miss writing as you sometimes.

Here are the posts from Feral that I could find with my second character, Eadrom, you can also find his character sheet here:

Eadrom introduces himself to Neon

The past few days had been some of the most exhilarating of Eadrom’s life, and at the same time some of the most terrifying. It had been less than two days since the death of King Raha, and so far the capital had resisted falling into chaos. There had been no rioting or looting, partly because the news was yet to properly break out in the local populace, partly because Raha had never been a… beloved… King. Although many had doubts about his heir, a girl hardly seen in the capital and known to be a drunkard and trouble maker. His first thoughts had been with quelling any potential unrest, but that would be easy, Xerses was ruled with an iron fist and trouble never got out of hand. After that he thought about the inevitable consequences of what they had heard was going on in Dunmont, the war that would tear Czarina apart. But, never, never would he have suspected he would be spirited away on a mission such as this, to accompany his new Queen in order to find a diplomatic solution with the seraphim.

And so he found himself here, on the dockside, with his mentor Sergio awaiting the arrival of pirate ship bearing his liege. He had only found out last night, and had no time to tell anyone, not his family, his friends in the capital, he had just stuffed a pack and been ready for the dawn summoning. What would she be like? His Queen? Eadrom had heard the stories, and had glimpsed the elusive princess occasionally when she had been younger and he had first come to the capital, but they couldn’t be trusted, and he doubted he would be presented with slip of a girl he had seen running amongst the courtyards of the palace all those years ago. He could do nothing but wait…

He did not have to wait long. As the sun rose behind the hills on the opposite side of Nixie lake the Bleak Dawn sailed into the harbour. She docked swiftly along with this other ship, the Leviathan, and before long refugees were pouring from the gunnels and out into docks. So many! Gods, he never even realised this many Daeva lived in the human Kingdom! He had tried to struggle up along the gang plank to satisfy his curiosity about the woman that he was devoting his service to, but he was being too polite. As soon as a refugee came down he stepped off again to allow them passage, he just couldn’t bring himself to push past them, he already felt too mean and military standing here in full battle armour. These people had been through hell and here they were to be greeted by soldiers! Still, better Daeva troops than any other.

Finally he managed to make it up onto the large (and impressive) ship, it was bigger than the ships Daeva favoured, in fact this would probably be the largest ship he had ever stepped foot on. As he crossed the gangplank commotion broke out behind him, a fight between a huge burly pirate… and a woman dressed in the officer uniform of the human army? What could this be? Should he intervene? But he was already late… there were other guards on the dock, if things got any worse they could handle it.

And there he found his queen, her Majesty Dralina Blazion I, heir of Xiomar. He could see in her the girl that had he had spotted once or twice around the palace, the long red hair with its black streaks and the green eyes were unmistakable. She was taller obviously, in fact they might almost be the same height… strange… being able to look the monarch in the eyes, Raha had towered over everyone. She looked busy, in conversation with another man in some kind of black suit… Eadrom had never seen anything like it. Should he intrude, and introduce himself? Surely it was his duty… but she was his Queen, Raha had never liked to be disturbed for things as trivial as pleasantries, but Sergio had assured him that the Princess Dralina he had known had been nothing like her father. Damn his indecisiveness, he would introduce himself!

Eadrom approached the pair and coughed, trying to be subtle as he could manage in getting her attention. He then dropped to one knee and bowed his head.

“Your Majesty. My name is Eadrom Fianna, and I have been tasked with serving and protecting you upon this voyage to the lands of the Seraphim. I humbly hope you will find my service acceptable to your standards.”

The Kraken Fight

Eadrom awoke with a sudden jolt. He had been sleeping in the cabin that he had been informed by one of the rather… abrasive… crew members, was his. He had been so exhausted with the events of the past day or so, the death of King Raha and all the frantic preparation and panic that had been happening, that when he had only meant to close his eyes for a few second, he had fallen into a deep and dreamless sleep. But now he was sprawled out of his bunk and onto the rolling wooden floor of the room. What in gods’ names was going on? Were they under attack? The deck was rolling and pitching wildly as leapt up to see what was going on. Then, there was a sickening crunch something absolutely huge fell onto the deck above this cabin. It did not sound good.

Wild creaking and groaning mixed with the sound of the battle, it was almost as if something had grabbed the entire ship… but no, that would be impossible, it must be a the strain of another vessel grappled to them pulling in the opposite direction or something of the sort. But if that was the case then why did so much of strain seem to be coming from above and below? There was a hideous crack as part of the lintel that made up the cabin’s door split, as did one of the beams in the ceiling. This was serious, it looked like the ship was being crushed like a tin can. Eadrom rushed to the door and tried to open it, but the pressure that had been exerted on it had sealed it shut. He put his shoulder to the warped wood, but to no avail, it wouldn’t budge an inch.

“Hey! Someone help me! I’m trapped in here!” He screamed through the door, but no one could hear him, they were all too preoccupied with defending the ship, all of the group were up on deck, and any pirates left below were manning the guns or in bilge, trying to keep the ship afloat. Eadrom was as good as imprisoned within the small room.

Claustrophobia rose like a wave. The walls were closing in, both metaphorically and literally. The pressure that was being exerted on them had the support beams cracking and buckling, if this kept up then he would be crushed alive, or if his cabin held out, he would drown as the ship became unable to stay afloat. His head thick with fear, he put his shoulder to the door again, trying with all his might to break it down so be might escape the inevitable fate that awaited him if he stayed here. It was as he was hammering down on the door that a sudden shard of ice exploded through the ceiling from the deck above. He dropped to the floor, taking cover from the flying freezing debris that tore through the cabin. Somehow, the icy death had missed him completely, and instead had smashed into the top of the door, splintering it badly. This was his chance! There damaged door would now move slightly! It took all his effort, but by pulling and pushing alternatively, he slowly worked the door open enough to get his head through.

He looked out into the corridor, and to his horror was confronted with one of the Remora that had managed to get into the lower decks, feasting on the body of the sailor. He cried out in shock and the creature heard him. It turned, terrible emotion-void eyes locking upon him, before it barred its barbed, interlocking teeth in something that could almost be called a grin. Without warning it sprang from its meal and launched towards Eadrom’s exposed face. He pulled back instinctively and made it back into the cabin, just as the Remora’s head burst through the gap, snapping and snarling. He didn’t think, Eadrom grabbed the door and slammed it repeatedly against the frame, crushing the Remora’s skull brutally. It took a few minutes before it was dead.

He was shaking. The brutality of the kill had been… unexpected, it wasn’t his preferred style and he had been thrown out of his comfort zone. Still shaking, he took his sword belt and strapped it on, he wouldn’t be caught off guard after this. The door was still ajar on the shattered head of the Remora, Eadrom worked it open a bit more and managed to squeeze through sideways, his boots trailing through the blood of the thing he had just killed.

Out into the corridor, his first instinct was to call out, but he repressed it. There could be more of those things down here. He needed to find a way up out onto the deck, but the hurried way they had set off had given him no bearing as to which way the stairs were on this ship. Hoping to find them, he picked one direction and set off in it.

The decks were dark, there were few portholes and all the candles were out in this part of ship. Above the battle still raged, but down here there was an eerie contrast. The worst of pressure the ship had been under seemed to have been relieved, but that still didn’t mean they were safe, Eadrom had seen what damage had been done below decks, the whole place was screwed. As he crept through the darkness he heard a noise off to one side. He spun to meet it. A Remora leaped from the shadows at frightening speed, Eadrom drew his sword to strike, but before he could there was the whizz of a crossbow and bolt pierced the creature in the chest. It fell to the floor, writhing in pain. Eadrom put it out of its misery by slitting its throat with one of the long silvery swords he wielded.

“Ya’ best kept yer’ wits about yer’, laddie.” Said a sailor emerging from the darkness, he held the crossbow that had killed the Remora. He looked in a bad shape, one of his arms was all torn up and the blood was running freely from the wound. “There’d be more o’these things down inna’ bilges. I barely ‘scaped with me life.”

“Thank you, sir. You may have just saved my life.” Eadrom replied, truly grateful. “Do you the way up to the deck? I need to get up there.”

“Tis’ back the way ya’ came, boy.” The grizzled sailor replied, wincing in pain as he reloaded the crossbow with considerable difficultly. “And when ya’ get dere’, tell the Cap’n that we lost the bilge to those… things. And that it won’t be too long ‘fore she’s underwater, bottom deck’s already there.”

“Aren’t you coming with me?” Eadrom asked, surprised the man was giving him a message to pass on when he seemed well enough.

“Aye. I don’t think I can take… much… more.” The sailor collapsed to the floor and then Eadrom saw the full extent of his injuries, from the back, the man had been opened up from neck to thigh in tens of hideous gashes. A bloody mosaic of red tiles. He was as good as dead. He sat with him briefly as he gave his last laboured breaths. He didn’t know the man. But it was the least he could do. When they came no more Eadrom stood again and started to go back on himself. It wasn’t long before he came across the wooden stairs that lead up to the deck, they were slippery with blood.

Above deck was worse than below. It had been torn to pieces, there were corpses of humans and the Remora everywhere and the ship had taken such a battering that it was a wonder that it was still afloat. It seemed that most of the survivors had gathered in some kind of mage shield that had been created in the centre of the deck. He rushed towards it, striking at the remaining Remora with deadly accuracy. This was what he was best at, his swords moved like surgeons scalpels, slashing exposed throats or striking like pins into the soft, vulnerable, underbellies of the creatures. He was fast and agile and so quickly made it without injury to the black shield. It was then that he noticed one of the people inside the shield. The Queen. What was she doing here? She was supposed to be Xerses! He was supposed to be going in her stead!

“What’s the situation here!” He called out to group. “Why is the Queen here?! And where is the Captain? The lower decks are being flooded and the ship doesn’t have long left!”

Eadrom awakes on the shore

Eadrom awoke in a wet pile on the shoreline, spluttering water up from his lungs as he weakly thrashed in the sand. The night was cold and dark, and for a moment he had no idea where or even who he was. Then, it all came rushing back. The ship. He had… he had gone up on the decks to see what was attacking them and he had since most of the expedition… but then… then, the Kraken! It had been a Kraken! He recalled the horror as the tentacles had risen out of the water and crushed the ship once and for all, hurling them all into the inky waters and taking the Bleak Dawn down into the depths of the ocean. Gods. The hairs on the back of his neck rose just thinking of the sight now. He pressed his aching forehead to the sand and tried to remember what had happened after that.

After the ship was gone, he had been flung into the water. It had been cold, freezing, in fact, but that had seemed trivial compared to the weight of his armour in the water. He had sunk like a stone under the black plate of the Royal Xerses Guard. He hadn’t even enough time to scream as the waters had swallowed him up whole. And down there in that darkness… he had desperately tried to escape death. Tearing away frantically at the straps that had held his armour, he had almost broken some of his fingers with the frenetic power he had poured into trying to get it off. It came eventually, the heavy breastplate slowly his sinking dramatically… But that hadn’t even been half of it. For what seemed like hours Eadrom had worked at the mail coat and the other smaller pieces of plate armour that had protected his limbs. By the time they were all off, he hadn’t been able to tell which way was up and which way was down.

He had been running out of air, in danger of blacking out, when from above, a corpse from the battle had come drifting down. He had been saved by a corpse. It told him which way was up, and in that instance, Eadrom never been as relieved to look upon a dead man as he had then. He had kicked his feet and made a rush for the surface, with the last of his air almost gone, it was almost as desperate a situation as his escape from the steel prison trapping him down here only seconds before. He had burst out into the night air and had begun greedily sucking down great gulps of air.

The entirety of this mission seemed to be just damn awful, Eadrom reflected as pulled himself out of the surf and crawled further up the beach. He felt terrible, his joints were aching and his head was pounding. As he tried to stand he noticed that there was a fire burning in the distance. He swept his eyes around him to see what, if anything he still had. He was wearing his plain under garments, and a rough spun tunic that was completely soaked through. No armour, no boots… or trousers for that matter. Fortunately, it seemed as if he had the presence of mind to keep a hold of his sword belt. He picked it up and buckled it round his waist, before setting off in the direction of the fire.

As he picked his way through the wreckage and bodies on the shore, Eadrom saw what seemed to be the remainder of the group, and the Queen herself standing next to the fire. He staggered over, his head and joints still aching profusely. There was a white-haired man talking about building an army and preparing defences. They were under attack again? Gods! It never stopped.

“We’re under attack again? By whom?”

Eadrom reproaches Daren

Eadrom had gasped at how the wolf pack treated their fellow Daeva. He wasn’t completely sure but he though he remembered the wolf being named Torvik… Torva? He wasn’t sure, his head was still pounding, making it hard to think, the ride in on the surf must have been hardly than he had thought. They were led away through the dark forest, down a narrow winding path, with the trees pressing in all around them. Eadrom was naturally very light footed, but even he struggled to keep with the pace the wolves were setting, they seemed to know where every single rock and root was, even in the pitch black!

He mused on how different this place was to his own home. Home for Eadrom was a quiet wooded valley, nestled between two hills on the eastern shores of Nixie Lake. The woods there were very different to these, they had always seemed much lighter for start… but maybe that was just because he had only really ever seen these ones in the dark. As they approached the camp of the Wolf Tribes he also wondered about how different the lives they led were. He had always known that the further away from Xerxes you got the more… unusual… the Daeva communities got. But in this north-western corner of the kingdom, it just seemed alien to him. He had lived in a village, with stone and wooden houses, the people there still kept a shrine to the old spirits of the animal and the woods, but that was mostly out of respect and tradition. Here, they lived the lives that Daeva thousands of years ago would have lived… it was all quiet thrilling really.

His curiosity was piqued further by the music they played, he had never quite heard anything like it before in the courts of Xerxes, Raha had never been one for musicians or minstrels. He sat down around the fire and gratefully ate his fill of the stew provided by their hosts. Although he couldn’t shake the feeling that, as a Deer Daeva, some of them would prefer to serve him in the stew, rather than serve him a bowl of stew. He watched on as the tribe dragged away their fellow wolf, and then another prisoner into the cell next to him. Was he another from the ship? Eadrom couldn’t be sure, he’d like to speak up for them, especially Torva since the wolf had been nothing but cordial to him during the brief time they had spoken, but he felt that his place was here… beside Queen Dralina. He was a member of the Royal Guard, and he couldn’t do that if they tribe locked him up for speaking out of turn.

It was then the fire elemental Daeva from before… or maybe he was hybrid (it was hard to tell in the shadows being cast from the massive fire in the centre of the encampment) started to speak to the Queen. He thought the man was older that him… but his attitude hardly betrayed that fact, he was demanding questions of the Queen? Did he really have no idea who he was speaking to; did he not even know who Raha had been? In that moment, Eadrom felt sorry for him, what sort of life had he had led to have almost no knowledge of Daeva society? He must have been pretty isolated, even the distant tribes like these understood the position of the Daeva monarch and knew who they were.

“You should watch your tone, sir.” He said, not unkindly, standing as he did so. “You address Queen Dralina Blazion, first of her name, Queen of all Daeva kind, descendent of Xiomar.”

Eadrom makes friends with the Wolf Tribe

adrom had ignored the first woman who had come to him. Not out of spite, or malice, or anything negative of the sort. He wasn’t that type of person, who could carelessly brush away a person like they meant nothing at all. He was far too sentimental for any such callous act. No, he had ignored the first busty wolf that had spoken to him out the sheer embarrassment that had surged through him like a wave the second he had realised her intent.

Eadrom, despite being a comely youth, had never lain with a woman. He had spent so much of his time in the military academy, and then out doing the work of the monarchy. He had never really… well… he supposed he had considered finding a mate one day, but that had been distant, far away, irrelevant. Now he found the possibility of… mating… very, very, close. Too close for comfort. He had gulped and looked the other way. Just in time to catch his Queen, in the light of the fire, declare herself one of those who would stand for the wolf Torva.

All thoughts of the wolf pressed to his shoulder were flung aside. His Queen was going into a trial by combat! He had to be with her! He was meant to protect her! To serve her! He must volunteer this very instance. But by that point it was too late, the dark assassin, Shade, had volunteered himself. And then the seraphim, the one that had gone to Torva’s cage, declared herself too. He couldn’t intervene! Oh Gods! He was there to serve and to protect his Queen, and yet he was prevented from doing so! It seemed he could do nothing, he was failing at every challenge presented to him. He had barely made it from the ship alive, and had been completely useless in the battle there. Now he was useless again, impotent, when his Queen might have need of him. Perhaps he could shadow them? Make sure the queen was not harmed… he had liked that Torva fellow, but if in his animalistic state he might endanger Queen Dralina’s life... well, then Eadrom would be forced to act.

It was as he sat brooding over these dark and sombre thoughts that the second awkward encounter with those of the opposite sex began. The two wolfesses pressed up against him to each side, closer even than the last one had. Moments before his mind had been solely focused on what he could do to protect his Queen, now all he could think about was the light pressure being exerted on his right arm by the bosom of one of the wolves. All this talk of hunger and starving… he had known it as soon as he had entered the camp. These wolves, they were predators, always predators. But he hadn’t expected them to be of this sort!

“I umm… ah… I… err-” Eadrom began to speak, blushing heavily and looking down as he did so. He had no idea what to say! What did you say in a situation like this? But there was no time for words, because before he could get any out, he had been lifted off his feet and was being cared through the camp!

“Ladies! I would love to join err- join you! But I err- have to get back to the umm… Queen! And err- Torva! I need to-” He began to protest and struggled slightly, but he was firmly held between their sleek, powerful bodies… bodies he couldn’t help but glance not now they were so intimate. He looked around desperately for anyone he might have known who could help him. But in this section of the camp there was only the quiet darkness of the trees and the glowing orange light of a few torches.

Then they came to the hut. Eadrom was hurled inside by his two kidnappers and onto a bed of furs. He let out an ‘oof’ as the air was taken out of his lungs by the landing. At once, he scrambled to get upright on the bed. And then… then… what he saw before him. The wolves. Eight of them. Eight. All of them with the hungry look in their eyes of the others that had brought him here. Each one of them was more beautiful and ravishing than the last. It was not the traditional, chaste, virgin maiden beauty that these wolves had about them, it was the tempestuous, wild, voluptuous beauty of women who were full of fierce passion, burning desires, and wicked, wicked, thoughts.
And it absolutely terrified Eadrom.

And yet there was nothing more he could do except sit in the piles of furs and stare at them, open mouthed. And as he stared he could feel it, his loins stirring beneath the under garments, the slow stiffening of his erection forming. Then there was the involuntary change that came over many Daeva when it came to mating, his human form giving way to that of the Stag, the animalistic, sexual, side of a Daeva’s being. They started to press around him, removing their tops… their round, perfect breasts, gleaming in the light of the torches. The flicking shadows played across the naked fur of their bodies, both the wolves and Eadrom’s own, for now he found he had removed his shirt. They fell upon him, and as they did so, Eadrom could do no more than let out a sigh. A whisper, only just words:

“Oh… my…”

Eadrom escapes from a pack of wolves

A noise somewhere between a groan of ecstatic pleasure and yelp of utter fear and absolute surprise issued forth from the great bed when Neon had barged into the hut. He had been in the throes of euphoria, his eyes closed as he had enjoyed the mind numbing sweetness that emanated from his body and the bodies of those he laid with. He felt exhausted he just wanted to stay here and sleep. But with banging of the door and then Neon’s brief and simple words to him, all thoughts of sweetness and pleasure evaporated from Eadrom’s mind like dew on a hot summer’s day.

His eyes were wide open, larger than saucers and his mouth hung agape at the shock of being found in what could only be described as desertion of his duty in Eadrom’s own mind. As Neon turned and left from the hut he began to first blink, then shake and twitch slightly, and then started stammering:

“I-I-I can- I can explain!” He leapt out the bed, intending out after her, before realising his own nakedness and then hurriedly clawing at the sheets to get enough to cover his lower half. The terror and shock had completely killed his enflamed passions and he could already feel himself transforming back out of his deer form and into his smaller, more modest, human one. But with the transformation… he felt acutely more naked. He was used to not wearing any clothes whilst as an animal, but the experience as a human was something completely different. He turned around again to tug further at the sheets… when he suddenly remembered that he was far from alone…

They lay there on the bed. A veritable harem of Wolf Daeva… their flesh… exposed… NO! Now was not the time to think of that! Eadrom tried to smile and subtlety tried to edge back towards where he had spied his clothing and few meagre possessions piled upon the floor.

“Umm- Thank you, ladies. But I err- I really have to be going now.” He tried to smile again and scratched the back of his head in a nervous gesture. Eadrom really didn’t like the way they were still looking at him.

“Where do you think you’re going deer-boy?” One growled.

“We haven’t finished with you yet!” Another said, leaping up into a crouch on the bed… ready to pounce. These women were definitely predators.

“Uh-oh.” Eadrom really didn’t know if he could take another round of the wolves voracious appetites. He already felt weak standing after round one. But it looked like they wouldn’t be giving him a choice! The wolf who had assumed the crouch position pounced at him, along with another one. They came flying through the air, completely naked, like very terrible, very deadly, angels.

Eadrom spun to avoid them, sliding off to the side. In the same motion he bent and seized his clothing and his sword belt with both hands and then rushed towards the still open door. He felt the red hot pain spring along his back as he stood from the bend… had one of them clawed him he thought for a moment, before remembering all the ‘clawing’ that had been going on the in the bed earlier.

Still, as he sprinted to freedom, on the very threshold of the hut, one of the wolves managed to wrap themselves around Eadrom’s legs. He yelped again, and was almost tripped by her. But somehow, he managed to jump and roll out of her grasp before sprinting off again. Behind him he could hear the cries and shouts of the wolves.

“Come back! Come back here deer-boy!” They all yelled, but Eadrom was already far away, pelting through the camp in nothing but what he was born in.

He certainly got some strange looks from the guards as they caught his naked, fleeing figure amongst the fire and torch light between the huts and trees. But that didn’t matter, they weren’t going to pin him down and hold him against his will to be a sex slave… well… was that really against his will? He shook his head, it didn’t matter now. All that matted was getting out of the camp and finding the group before they assumed he had stayed behind for good in the carnal company of these damned wolves!

Somehow (after redressing behind a dark and secluded tree) Eadrom caught up with group as they approached the main road. He said nothing. Maybe if he didn’t bring it up then no one would ask him about where he had been the past few hours? Provided the Queen didn’t say anything… yeah… he was screwed.

And that's everything I have for Feral. As I said you can see some of the later posts from other plays by checking out the thread that continued on this site, here.